2014 District 4 Candidate Katy Tang

Candidate Facts

Candidate Questionnaire

Last month, all official candidates for the Board of Supervisors were contacted and given the opportunity to answer our Candidate Questionnaire. Any candidate responses edited for length and clarity have been marked as such.

1. Do you ride a bicycle in the city?

Yes

2. If yes, for what purpose(s) and how often? How do you most commonly commute to work?

Recreational purposes. I usually carpool to work; occasionally ride Muni.

3. The City has established a goal to at least double the number of bike trips in the next 4 years. Do you support this goal?

Yes

If yes, what would you do as Supervisor to help the city realize it?

I have supported the installation and enhancement of bicycle lanes within District 4 to make it easier for residents to use bicycling as a main mode of transportation. Our office also spearheaded a biking class with SFBC to teach District 4 residents how to easily get from Sunset to downtown. We look forward to continuing this education effort regularly with SFBC. Our office is also advocating for installation of additional bike parking along major corridors.

4. After a tragic 2013 for people biking and walking, including 25 fatal collisions, City leaders have embraced Vision Zero, which aims to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero in the next 10 years through better engineering, education, and enforcement. This policy has now been adopted by the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor and many key agencies, such as the SFMTA & the Police Dept. Do you support Vision Zero?

Yes

As Supervisor will you prioritize funding and policy decisions based on Vision Zero, or safety-first?

Yes

5. It has been shown that the most effective way to boost the number of people bicycling and improve the bicycling experience is to designate dedicated space through physically separated bikeways and traffic-calmed streets. The SF Bicycle Coalition has set out its Connecting the City initiative, an ambitious but achievable vision of 100 miles of crosstown bikeways that are comfortable and inviting for people of all ages and abilities, connecting neighborhoods and helping locals and visitors to shop, work, and play more often by bike. Reconfiguring our streets to include crosstown bikeways and other “low stress” bike routes will draw concern from some residents who are skeptical of this next-generation infrastructure and who oppose re-programming any existing on-street car parking or traffic lanes for safer biking.

Do you support the creation of continuous crosstown bikeways — Connecting the City — even acknowledging that there will be some public pushback to inevitable changes?

Yes

6. The SF Bicycle Coalition has advocated for the City to increase its spending on bicycling improvements, so that it constitutes 8% of its transportation budget, given that the SFMTA’s Strategic Plan goal aims to reach 8% of trips by bike by 2018. In its most recent budget cycle, the SFMTA only increased the funding for bicycling from 1% to 2%. As Supervisor, will you support leveling the playing field by ensuring that the level of funding for bicyclists at least matches the proportion of San Franciscans that bike?

Yes

7. The affordability of transportation is a growing concern for many San Franciscans. For most SF residents, particularly low-income families, transportation is the second-highest cost of living after housing. As Supervisor, how will you promote bicycling as an affordable transportation choice, particularly for among households overburdened by expenses?

I have supported the installation and enhancement of bicycle lanes within District 4 to make it easier for residents to use bicycling as a main mode of transportation. Our office also spearheaded a biking class with SFBC to teach District 4 residents how to easily get from Sunset to downtown. We look forward to continuing this education effort regularly with SFBC. Our office is also advocating for installation of additional bike parking along major corridors.

8. Market Street is San Francisco’s most well-traveled corridor, with a quarter of a million daily transit vehicle boardings on or under it each weekday and more daily bike trips than almost any other street in the United States. The City is working on a Better Market Street plan that calls for limiting private vehicle thru-traffic, creating a continuous, physically separated bikeway the full length of Market Street, while also enhancing better transit and pedestrian travel. Would you support this plan?

Yes

9. This Fall, voters will have the chance to support the Transportation and Road Safety Bond. This bond supports $500 million of work to improve the city’s transit systems and make our roadways safer for all users, with a focus on improved bikeways and pedestrian safety. Will you publicly support and actively campaign for this measure?

Yes

10. Also this Fall, voters will be presented with a ballot measure called Policy Regarding Transportation Priorities Declaration of Policy or “Transportation Balance”, which aims to weaken San Francisco’s long-time Transit-First policy, and send more of our City’s scarce resources to further subsidize parking to the detriment of other, well-established priorities, including transit and the safety of people walking and biking. Will you support Transit-First and Vision Zero by publicly and actively opposing the Policy Regarding Transportation Priorities Declaration?

Yes

11. In 2016, San Franciscans will be asked to restore the Vehicle License Fee to 2% to provide an ongoing, progressive source of funding for transportation priorities in San Francisco, including safer walking and biking conditions and improved transit. Do you endorse this revenue source?

Given the constituency that I represent, I would need to engage in additional outreach efforts on this issue. [response truncated]

If yes, will you also support bridge-funding for the transportation funding gap until this funding measure is active?

I did not support the charter amendment designed to serve as bridge funding for the transportation funding gap because, if passed by voters, it would result in a $22 million unanticipated hit to the General Fund. [response truncated]

12. San Francisco has recently joined a growing list of major cities with sophisticated bike sharing programs. To succeed, this program will require significant expansion to neighborhoods across the city, which will require additional funding and public space for the bike-sharing station. Do you commit to seek and secure funding and space to expand this cost-effective, innovative new transportation system to more San Francisco neighborhoods?

Yes

13. Double-parking in bike lanes is a major safety problem in San Francisco, causing people biking to have to swerve dangerously. Will you prioritize a significant increase in the SF Police Department’s and the SFMTA’s Parking Control Officers’ enforcement of this problem?

Yes

14. Concerns around police enforcement of safe driving laws in San Francisco is high. 1,700 people have signed a petition to urge George Gascon to prosecute the driver in the Amelie Le Moullac bike fatality case. Do you support increased enforcement and accountability for all road users focused around the five most dangerous driving actions (speeding, failing to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk, improperly making a right hand turn, running red lights, and failing to stop at stop signs)?

Yes

15. Have you championed or strongly supported any other initiatives that are in line with the SF Bicycle Coalition’s mission of promoting bicycling for everyday transportation?

I am currently lead sponsor of the Transportation G.O. Bond, where I worked to gather unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors. This measure will provide about $300 million worth of infrastructure improvements that will support bicycling as a main mode of safe transportation, and other pedestrian safety measures. I also regularly participate in Bike to Work Day and Bike to School Day events to encourage residents to see biking as a feasible alternative to driving.

District-Specific Questions

1. The Sunset currently lacks a North-South bicycle route that is comfortable for people ages 8-to-80. Political support has existed in the past to rebuild the Sunset Boulevard greenway into an attractive biking and walking path. Will you commit to building a North-South bikeway, either along Sunset Boulevard or a nearby parallel street?

Yes [Response Truncated]

2. Lincoln Way is a high-speed corridor despite being the southern border of Golden Gate Park. Do you support corridor-length traffic calming to increase the safety of Golden Gate Park entrances, such as speed reduction or significant intersection improvements with bike access to the Park along the entire length of Lincoln Way?

Yes [Response Truncated]

3. The Ocean Beach Master Plan is now in implementation phase. The recommendations include a lane reduction and the construction of a high-quality, oceanside bicycle and pedestrian path. One of the main reasons for this change is to combat erosion along the shoreline, while preserving access to the shoreline. Do you support the Ocean Beach Master Plan in general and this recommendation in particular?